Creating the Right Environment
Everything started in 2002 at the Idiap Research Institute (www.idiap.ch). when Herve Bour-lard-the Idiap Director—attracted several major projects, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Commission. As a result, many young and enthusiastic multimedia developers and researchers (including three of us— Jean-Marc Odobez, Alessandro Vinciarelli, and Mael Guillemot) joined Idiap and formed a highly multidisciplinary research environment.